Luke Littler vs Michael van Gerwen: The rivalry reaches its climax in the final of the Darts World Championship | Darts News

Twelve games, six wins each. Luke Littler vs Michael van Gerwen has become a box office hit over the last 12 months and the rivalry will reach its climax in the World Championship final on Friday.

Littler’s meteoric rise at the 2024 World Darts Championship, where he finished second to Luke Humphries, was underpinned by Premier League finals titles, the World Series of Darts Finals and the Grand Slam of Darts.

Van Gerwen, on the other hand, did not win a televised tournament in 2024, which is the first time he has not won in a calendar year since 2011.

Friday’s final is by far the most important meeting between the two, with Van Gerwen aiming for his fourth world title and Littler his first.

How did we get here?

Littler sets a marker, but MVG answers

Two weeks after last year’s World Darts Championship, Littler scored a nine-darter in his quarter-final win over Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Darts Masters and met Van Gerwen in the final on January 19.

It was the first of many meetings between two of darts’ most talented players and Littler prevailed 8-5 to claim his first senior PDC title on his World Series debut.

Van Gerwen vowed to be better the next time the two met; that he would “get” Littler. He achieved exactly that just a week later on home soil at the Dutch Darts Masters.

In a thrilling final both players went neck and neck and nothing separated them until the very last leg when Van Gerwen punished a missed 170 from Littler to win 8-6.

“Luke put so much pressure on me,” said Van Gerwen, who won his 16th World Series of Darts title.

“Luke has a very bright future ahead of him. We all know that, but you still want to stop him and you have to do the right things against him, which is what I did tonight.”

“His scoring opportunities are immense, so you have to keep fighting, but I’m glad I was able to do that.”

Big clashes in the Premier League

The Premier League Darts format sees the best eight players in the world meet every Thursday for 17 weeks, so of course we would see plenty of Van Gerwen versus Littler.

On Night 2 in early February, Littler missed two match darts in the Berlin final and Van Gerwen punished him with a 6-5 victory, letting out a loud celebration at his victory, underlining how much it meant to the Dutchman to beat the teenager.

Two weeks later in Newcastle, Van Gerwen again snatched victory from Littler in a deciding leg, this time in the semi-final, and he won the night.

However, the next three games went for Littler. On the seventh night in Nottingham, Littler averaged a sensational 114 in a stunning 6-2 quarter-final victory over Van Gerwen. This was the match in which Van Gerwen “completed” Littler’s nine-darter attempt.

Littler took full advantage of the underperforming Van Gerwen with two 6-3 wins in the coming weeks, but the Dutchman won the Night 11 final with a 6-3 victory of his own.

Van Gerwen won the last Premier League clash 6-1, but Littler ultimately won the whole thing as MVG lost to Humphries in the semi-final.

Van Gerwen stuns Littler at World Matchplay

Van Gerwen and Littler played to a draw in the first round of the World Matchplay, and it was surprisingly a one-sided contest.

The three-time world champion beat Littler 6-1 but lost to Humphries in the final.

Littler beat Van Gerwen in the semi-finals of the World Series of Darts and on the European Tour, so he has been in better form of late.

However, when you look at the bigger moments, Van Gerwen has an advantage and that could be important on Friday.

What do Van Gerwen and Littler think of each other?

Michael van Gerwen:

“I think he’s great. What he has done for the sport is amazing. Fair play to him.”

“Television and social media are big, which helps him. This is good for darts in general. I don’t mind.”

Luke Littler:

“As I got older I watched more and more darts. The first (Van Gerwen match) I remember was the 2017 final when he beat Gary (Anderson).

“He’s been around for many years and I’m sure he won’t change for anyone.”

What’s next?

Luke Littler is just one win away from making history after reaching his second consecutive World Championship final. The 17-year-old from Warrington will face Michael van Gerwen, who is aiming for his fourth world title after bulldozing his way to the final. Watch the drama this Friday from 7:30 p.m Sky Sports Darts.

Watch Premier League Darts on Sky Sports

Watch all the action from the Premier League To Sky Sports with Luke Littler wants to defend his title. The new Premier League season begins in Belfast on Thursday February 6 as darts’ biggest party returns to an unchanged line-up of 17 venues across the UK and Europe.

Who will win the Premier League Darts? Follow all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sports with NOW.